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Get a Hat, Get a Head is soon to reach the capital, during its exhibition in the Flux Gallery, based in the Wellington Museum, from Monday 9 September to Sunday 13 October 2019.

Artists from Arts on High, MIX, Pablos Art Studio and Vinnie’s Re Sew – creative spaces across the Wellington region – will be taking second-hand hats and turning them into artistic creations.

The title, “Get a Hat, Get a Head”, is a play on words, taken from an advertising slogan in the 1940s “get ahead, get a hat” that implied in order to advance your life you needed a hat to help you on your way.

This collaboration is shifting the focus to mental health, implying in order to “get ahead” you need to maintain mental wellbeing, therefore you need to “get a head”.

Artists from across Wellington have taken part in a number of sessions in the five Creative Spaces, with tutors supporting their work.

Whilst the organisations run separately, one thing brings them together – the aim of raising awareness for mental health and contribute to its de-stigmatisation.

The project allows people with and without a mental health diagnosis to create art and look internally about how they feel about their wellbeing. It aims to show that everyone has a voice and a story to tell through a creative outlet.

It is hoped that the project will connect the wider Wellington community through the public and free of charge exhibition, which will include discussion sessions on artists’ mental health journeys. The exhibition will also include interactive art workshops, plus children’s workshops during half term.

Ellyn Rose from Pablos says that another hope for the project will be to “liberate the service-users voice, re-affirming their identity as an artist. People with mental health diagnosis often feel stigmatised or labelled by their condition. The purpose of this project is to liberate their voice, creating opportunities to see themselves as an artist rather than as a patient.”

The hats will be on display from 9 September to 13 October in Wellington Museum’s Flux Gallery, as well as being displayed in the heart of the community in Pablos’ ROAR Gallery.